SBV
UOB Breaks Ground in VIFC Zone as Rating Barrier Stalls Bigger Rivals
UOB raises charter capital to VND 10 trillion and breaks ground on a VIFC-zone HQ in July — while JPMorgan and MUFG are blocked by Decree 329's rating barrier.
Vietcombank Puts VIFC Subsidiary to Shareholder Vote
Vietcombank put a 100%-owned VIFC bank to a shareholder vote in April 2026 — the first state bank to commit structurally, not just nominally, to the centre.
Real Estate Bonds Rise 278% as Three Conglomerates Take Half the Market
Real estate now holds 54.1% of Vietnam's VND 124.5 trillion private placement bond market as banks retreat; three conglomerates account for 54.1% of all issuance.
Vietnam Stacks Tech Capital via Decree 264 and Decision 21
Decree 264/2025 seeds Vietnam's national VC fund with VND 500B and a 50% loss-tolerance threshold — the investment thesis is now codified in law.
HDBank Q1 2026: The CAR Improvement That Makes the Green Bond Real
HDBank's CAR rose 184 bps to 16.16% in Q1 2026 — the capital metric underpinning Moody's 'Positive' outlook and a $300M green bond pipeline.
LPBank Becomes the Eighth Bank to Approve a VIFC Subsidiary — and the First to Name Digital Assets
LPBank's 28 April AGM unanimously approved a VIFC subsidiary — the eighth in 2026 — and the first to explicitly cite digital asset management as a target service.
Vietnam Lists First 15 Crypto AML Red Flags as VASPs Enter Compliance Perimeter
Vietnam's draft AML amendment, tabled July 14 by SBV Governor Phạm Đức Ấn, introduces a statutory list of 15 crypto red-flag indicators — six of which are now public — and brings VASPs into the compliance perimeter for the first time.
Vietnam's Retail Banking Is 95% Digital. Its VIFC Institutional Stack Is Not.
The SBV's journal maps five gaps blocking international investor digital banking at the VIFC — eKYC, open API, multi-currency products, AML risk, and talent.
SBV Moves Payment Licence Admin to Regional Branches
Circular 22/2026, effective May 19, moves payment licence amendments and lost-licence reissuance from SBV Hanoi to regional branches — reducing administrative overhead for HCMC-based operators.
SBV Biometric Rule Extends to Card Issuance, Closing Gap Left by Circular 77
Circular 45/2025, in force since January 5, 2026, requires biometric verification against the CCCD chip before any new bank card can be issued or activated for electronic transactions.
Five Crypto Exchange Applicants Cleared to Build in Vietnam Pilot
Five of eight applicants cleared Vietnam's first crypto exchange review; launch depends on applicant readiness, with no government deadline set.
Vietnam Bill Opens SME Loans to Digital-Asset Collateral
Vietnam's MoF draft SME law would recognise digital assets as loan collateral — a first for mainstream banking, with a July 2027 target date.
SBV–RBI MoU Opens India Corridor for the VIFC
The SBV–RBI MoU signed 5 May 2026 targets QR code retail payment linkages — not full UPI interoperability — but opens a corridor unlike any other the VIFC has.
Vietnam Scraps Bank Data-Sharing Rule After MoF–SBV Standoff
Vietnam's MoF dropped mandatory bank-taxpayer data sharing after SBV cited banking secrecy law, data architecture gaps, and technical infeasibility at scale.
Da Nang Pilot Runs Vietnam's First Live Blockchain Payment
Basal Pay ran real USDT/USDC through a seven-firm consortium at Ironman Da Nang — Vietnam's first live blockchain cross-border payment test under a dual SBV–Resolution 222 sandbox regime.
Resolution 05's RWA Issuance Framework: The Compliance Checklist for Tokenized Asset Issuers
Resolution 05/2025 lets Vietnamese LLCs tokenize real-world assets for foreign investors — here is every issuer obligation, from Form No. 01 to 10-year data retention.
Decree 94's P2P Sandbox: The Foreign Ownership Bar and What It Means for VIFC Firms
Decree 94/2025/ND-CP bars foreign-owned enterprises from Vietnam's P2P lending sandbox — and the term 'foreign-owned' remains undefined, raising EVFTA and CPTPP treaty questions.
HFIC Named as Digital Bond Issuer in VIFC Blueprint as Zero-Tax Sandbox Awaits Approval
HFIC is named as proposed Digital Bond issuer in the VIFC-HCMC blueprint, which pairs VND private placements with USD Nasdaq-listed tranches and requests a zero-tax sandbox still awaiting government approval.
Decree 323 Pitches VIFC Sandbox as 30-Year Bond Lab
PM Le Minh Hung's April 2026 directive on 15-30 year infrastructure bonds meets a novel proposal: use the VIFC's Decree 323 sandbox to pilot VND sovereign debt for foreign buyers.
SBV Restores 40% Short-Term Capital Ratio as Circular 25 Takes Effect
Circular 25/2026/TT-NHNN, signed June 22, restores the 40% short-term capital cap and amends State Treasury deposit rules — effective July 1.
Decree 198 Thins the SBV Unit That Clears Foreign Banks Into the VIFC
Decree 198/2026 cuts SBV's International Cooperation Department from 5 to 3 divisions and renames Credit and Forecasting units, effective 1 July 2026.
SBV's Draft AI Circular: Six Compliance Layers Banks Must Build by September 2027
The SBV's draft AI circular imposes six compliance layers on banks under Law 134/2025/QH15, with a September 2027 deadline for existing systems.
Decree 324 Lifts M&A Cap as 50% Control Trigger Looms
Decree 324 removes foreign ownership caps and M&A registration for most VIFC deals — but Article 6.2's 50% threshold redefines a buyer's mainland Vietnam investment rights permanently.
Circular 09 Updates Custody Rules for SBV Repos and OMOs
Circular 09/2026/TT-NHNN, effective July 4, takes effect just as VIFC subsidiary banks go live — here is what compliance and treasury teams must act on.
SBV's Draft Circular on FDI Forex: Pre-IRC Accounts and the First IFC-to-Mainland Capital Category
SBV's draft replacement for Circular 06/2019 lets foreign investors open capital accounts before IRC approval and creates the first explicit regulatory category for IFC-to-mainland capital flows.
No More Forced VND Conversion: What Circular 72 Actually Means for Inbound Capital
Circular 72 abolished Vietnam's mandatory VND conversion for VIFC-bound foreign capital — here is what that means in practice for foreign LPs and asset managers.
Decree 329 + Circular 72 Explained: Banking, Foreign Exchange, and AML Within the VIFC
A plain-English walkthrough of the VIFC's banking licensing, foreign exchange, and anti-money laundering framework — the 'money layer' of Vietnam's financial centre.
Vietnam Sets 5% Deficit Ceiling, Names IFCs as Growth Poles
Decision 1119/QD-TTg raises Vietnam's deficit ceiling to 5% of GDP and revenue target to 18%, naming IFCs as fiscal priority poles through 2030.
SBV Sets 15% Credit Ceiling for 2026 as Deposit Rates Hit Cycle Peak
Vietnam's SBV set a 15% credit growth ceiling for 2026 — down from 19% actual in 2025 — as deposit rates hit cycle peaks at 12 banks.
Singapore and the VIFC: What a Central Banker Premier's First Phone Call Signals
PM Le Minh Hung, a former SBV Governor, called Singapore's PM nine days into office to request VIFC support — here is what that means.
Decision 186 Constitutes VIFC Apex Council With DPM as Chair
Decision 186/QĐ-TTg, signed July 2, names DPM Nguyen Van Thang as Chair of the VIFC's 15-member Management Council — completing governance architecture set in December 2025.
Decree 329's AA- Floor Is Keeping Foreign Banks Out of the VIFC
Six months in, the VIFC's banking tier is entirely domestic. Decree 329's AA- threshold bars MUFG, Bank of America, and Bank of China — and the VIFC's own Vice Chairman wants it scrapped.
Vietnam PM Names Bonds as VIFC's First Products, Sets June 16 Council Deadline
PM Le Minh Hung named three bond categories as VIFC's first deployable products on June 13, with sandbox as the on-ramp and Executive Council formation due by June 16.
Decree 323's Supremacy Clause Gives the VIFC Power to Override Vietnamese Law — if the Rules Get Written
Decree 323 lets the VIFC's Executive Council override conflicting Vietnamese law — but the Operational Regulations that activate the power remain unwritten.
Draft Urban Law Targets the Capital Trap at the Heart of the VIFC
Capital raised inside the VIFC becomes foreign investment the moment it crosses the 898-hectare perimeter — and the Draft Law on Special Urban Areas contains the most concrete proposed fix to date.
Da Nang's Implementing Decrees Are Too Strict: The Case for Amending Resolution 222
Da Nang's VIFC Executive Agency told the National Assembly in May 2026 that Resolution 222's eight guiding decrees are too strict for practical implementation — and is now preparing formal amendment proposals.
VIFC's Eight Implementing Decrees: A Practitioner's Reference Map
All eight VIFC implementing decrees (323–330) were enacted on 18 December 2025. Here is the practitioner's reference map.
HCMC's Davos Playbook: The On-Chain Partnerships Behind the Headlines
HCMC's Davos delegation signed two on-chain MoUs and studied Lugano's crypto-city model. Here is what each engagement actually involved.
VIFC Forex and Dispute Resolution: A Practical Framework for Cross-Border Transactions
The VIFC's forex and dispute resolution frameworks interact in ways that matter for cross-border deal structuring — a practical guide.
Who's Who: The People and Institutions Behind the VIFC
An ecosystem map of the governance bodies, regulators, founding members, strategic partners, and advisors shaping Vietnam's International Financial Centre.